Pyrophobia || Sokka x Reader

|Chapter 7|

Guys I sat on my phone and it shattered caus I'm so thicc 😩

I was going to edit and publish this after school but I fell asleep and now it's almost 10 pm

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The young girl, Tulia as I had learned, was pressed into my side, whimpering in fear. We were in an igloo with her brother, Tolra. I rubbed the children's backs and kissed their heads, whispering soft words of reassurance.

I don't know if the words were for them, or if they were for me.

The children were scared out of their minds. They had never experienced anything like this before. I couldn't blame them for shaking. The circumstance we were in was terrifying.

And it was freezing.

We weren't sitting on warm animal pelts, we were sitting on the ground. Also known as the biggest piece of ice in the southern hemisphere. The body heat of the twins was enough for me to keep decently warm. I couldn't say the same for my ass, though. That shit was cold.

I wanted to help fend off my brother badly, but I was too scared to face him. I knew I could take him on physically. Mentally though, not so much. I could easily see myself crumbling just by looking him in the eyes. The guilt of leaving was weighing down on me so much more than I had initially thought it would.

Every once in a while we could hear a 'thud' or the roar and crackling of hot flames. They had to have been pretty loud to penetrate the walls of the igloo.

Soon enough the sounds of fighting ceased. For some unknown reason, I was feeling even more anxious than before. Though I had done nothing wrong, a sense of dread and hurt weighed in my stomach. I didn't want to move.

Tolra, Tulia's brother, soon eased away from my side and rose to his feet. With one hand he gestured for us to stand, the other telling us to stay quiet. We all crept towards the opening. I stepped forward and pushed Tolra behind me, taking the lead myself.

When I stepped out into the cold the air nipped at my nose. I looked around, but didn't see any fire Nation ships.

Or air benders.

What I did see was a gaping gash in the borders of the icy island. The village people moped and I proceeded to search for Katara and Sokka. I took Tulia and Tolra's little hands in mine, rubbing the back of them with my thumbs. They both looked around, jaws dropped at the damage delt to the only place they knew.

I spotted Katara and walked towards her, still not seeing Aang.

The twins looked up at me and Katara as I began to speak. "What hap-" I was cut off.

"Where were you?" Sokka demanded, rather than asked. "The Fire Nation attacked us and where were you? You can fight, right? We could have used your help but you were off hiding." I hung my head in shame. He was right, after all. Tulia squeezed my hand tighter. "Now they have Aang and we're stuck-"

It was my turn to cut Sokka off. "They took Aang!?"

"Well no shit! Do you see him here?" I shrunk away from him, and he closed his eyes, taking a deep breath.

I gently let go of Tolra and Tulia's hands and put them on their backs, pushing them off to go find their mother.

Katara spoke up next, "Where were you?"

I shuffled my feet, the snow on the ground suddenly becoming very interesting to look at.

I was surprised to hear Sokka speak for me. "She was with the twins." His voice was soft, his eyes calm for a moment.

"The twins? Why?"

I fidgeted with my hands. "They were scared. I was talking to them when the ship came, so I thought I could help calm them down." Katara looked to her brother, silently asking him if it was true.

The fact that she needed his word hurt a little, but I tried my best to brush it off. "Well, what do we do now?" I asked the siblings.

Katara looked again to her brother, then to me. "We," she gestured to Sokka and herself, "are going to find Aang. We're taking Appa."

"What about me?" I had come to the decision that I was ready to face my brother. I felt more confident in myself than I had in a long time. Zuko would discover the truth soon enough. If I took too long to confront him he might think I've died. I was ready. Determined.

Sokka and Katara made eye contact again, an awkward expression on both their faces. The siblings looked at each other, waiting for the other to break the news.

Katara eventually told me "You'll stay here."

"What? Why?" I asked in bewilderment.

They exchanged looks again. Every time their eyes locked it sent a painful pang through my chest.

It hurt.

"We need you to... Keep the twins out of trouble!"

Katara tried to back up his terrible lie. "Yeah! Every time we leave the village they seem to cause all kinds of trouble. Last time they almost burnt the whole village down! Literally."

Katara and Sokka are awful liars.

I knew they weren't telling the truth. Tulia and Tolra had already complained to me about other kids not respecting the village's rules. They were the least troublesome kids around.

That, and ice isn't flammable.

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My head was hung low. Gran-Gran congratulated Sokka and Katara and wished them well on their journey. They climbed upon my only remaining piece of hope and took off into the sky, leaving me there for who knows who long. There was now no way for me to leave this desolate Arctic prison.

I turned, a few silent tears making their way down my face. I had made the mistake of opening up. Even if it was only to two children, it was still a mistake. I left myself vulnerable. I was unable to stand up for myself. Instead I watched as Sokka and Katara left to potentially hurt my only real family.

I was weak .

I messed up.

Never again.

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For those of you who wanted to ask me some questions, you can do it here! I'll answer them at the end of Chapter 8! No question is too personal for me :) If you're not reading this until after the next chapter's been published, feel free to ask anyways and I'll just respond in the comments.

:)